Project Surfliner won Silver in the Yvonne Tevis UC Collaboration Award at the 2024 UC Tech Awards. This recognition celebrates the five-year partnership between the UC San Diego Library and the UC Santa Barbara Library, which transformed digital library infrastructure, fostered deep cross-campus teamwork, and demonstrated the lasting impact of collaborative open-source development across the UC system and beyond.
Summary
Project Surfliner, a five-year collaboration between the UC San Diego Library and the UC Santa Barbara Library, exemplifies the essence of the Yvonne Tevis UC Collaboration Award through its transformative impact on digital library platforms, fostering cultural shifts, and embodying the spirit of cross-campus cooperation and innovation within the UC system.
Narrative
I. Description of Initiative(s) or Portfolio of Work
Project Surfliner is a testament to the power of collaboration within the University of California system. This productive 5-year partnership has brought together more than 35 dedicated individuals (developers, operations specialists, technical leads, product owners, librarians, and subject matter experts) who have successfully collaborated to develop a suite of digital library applications supporting the creation, management, preservation, and discovery of library digital collections.
The Surfliner framework embodies principles of shared code, agile development, and open communication. This framework has helped us to collaborate across campus boundaries and has allowed each campus to benefit from the other’s expertise and resources. Through this framework, the project team has worked together to tackle the strategic replacement of expensive to maintain legacy applications with flexible, reusable digital library tooling to address the sustainable digital collection stewardship needs of each campus. While the partnership has resulted in numerous technical achievements, the collaboration itself has also had a positive impact on staff at both organizations; providing peer support, mentoring, knowledge sharing, and fostering cooperation beyond the products we are jointly responsible for developing.
ii. Meeting Selection Criteria
The Surfliner project exemplifies the essence of the Yvonne Tevis UC Collaboration Award in various ways:
Complexity: The Surfliner project operates at the intersection of technology, collaboration, and innovation, navigating the complexities of legacy systems, diverse expertise, and evolving digital landscapes. By integrating components from the open-source Samvera and Project Blacklight communities, all campuses working from a monorepo, and sharing a common user story catalog to select feature development, the team embraces complexity to tailor solutions to their unique needs.
Impact: Surfliner has catalyzed a cultural shift within participating institutions, fostering knowledge sharing, skill development, and remote work practices. The initiative has helped us to address our immediate challenges and laid the groundwork for sustainable growth and adaptability. By harnessing the strengths of each campus, Surfliner has cleared the tracks and allowed digital library platforms to move full speed ahead.
Mission: The collaborative endeavor between the UC San Diego Library and the UC Santa Barbara Library, known as Project Surfliner, epitomizes the spirit of partnership and collective innovation across UC campuses. Rooted in the shared vision of advancing digital library capabilities, this initiative has been a testament to the power of collaboration, weaving together the strengths and resources of two distinct institutions into a unified effort. Through the development of open-source digital library applications incorporating Samvera and Blacklight technologies, Project Surfliner transcends geographical boundaries and fosters a community-driven approach to scholarly access and engagement. Moreover, the project’s commitment to contributing code back to the open-source community amplifies its impact, ensuring that the results of the collaboration extend beyond institutional borders, benefiting universities worldwide. By dedicating time, expertise, and resources to the open-source community, including DevOps and development efforts, Project Surfliner exemplifies the ethos of collective contribution and togetherness, reaffirming the transformative potential of collaborative endeavors in shaping the future of digital scholarship.
iii. Measurement of Success
The success of Project Surfliner is quantified through tangible metrics that reflect the project’s engine of innovation:
- Timeframe: More than five years of sustained collaboration and innovation, spanning numerous development sprints and resulting in almost 6,000 commits in GitLab.
- Team Size: A dedicated team of 35 members across both campuses (over the length of the program), leveraging their collective skills and expertise to drive progress.
- Productivity: The development of seven products, each addressing specific needs within the digital library landscape.
- Capacity: Working together to solve a common problem doubled our team size while doing collaborative work.
- Knowledge Sharing: We are learning new skills from each other, supporting individual professional development, and improving our local development practices and infrastructure.
- Cultural Impact: Adoption of agile frameworks, remote work practices, DevOps principles, and open communication leading to lasting cultural shifts within participating institutions.
iv. Timeframe
Project Surfliner departed the station on its journey five years ago. Since then, it has navigated twists and turns, overcoming hurdles and celebrating successes along the way. Through its steadfast progress and unwavering commitment, Project Surfliner has emerged as an example of collaboration within the UC system, illuminating the path forward for digital innovation.
Project Team
UC Santa Barbara Library Staff
- Tom Brittnacher — Curator for Geospatial and Digital Collections (academic)
- Michael Craig — DevOps Engineer (staff)
- Alexandra Dunn — Digital Library Architect (staff)
- Alissa Pierce — Digital Library Front End Developer & User Experience Designer (staff)
- Chrissy Rissmeyer — Director of Digital Library Development (academic)
- Tamsin Woo — Associate Director for Digital Library Engineering (staff)
UC San Diego Library Staff
- Thor Brickman — Sr. DevOps Engineer (staff)
- Vivian Chu — Applications Developer (staff)
- Matt Critchlow — Applications Developer (staff)
- Kristian De Castro — Applications Developer (staff)
- Jessica Hilt — Manager of Applications Development (*now at UC San Francisco)
- Arwen Hutt — Metadata Specialist (academic)
- Tim Marconi — Director of Technology and Digital Experience (staff)
- Gabriela Montoya — Service Manager for Digital Initiatives (staff)
- Longshu Situ — Applications Developer (staff)
- Ron Stanonik — Sr. DevOps Engineer (staff)
- Michael Stuart — IT Operations Manager (staff)
- David Trujillo — Applications Developer (staff)
- Amy Work — GIS Librarian (academic)
Primary Contact
Director of Digital Library Development
UC Santa Barbara Library
